Dedham Compact
Early History of Dedham The history of Dedham, Massachusetts in Norfolk County, began with the first settlers' arrival in 1635. The Puritans who built the village on what the Indians called Tiot incorporated the plantation in 1636. They devised a form of government in which almost every freeman could participate and eventually chose selectmen to run the affairs of the town. They then formed a church and nearly every family had at least one member. The early residents of town built the first American canal, the first tax supported public school, run by Ralph Wheelock (1600-1684), and Jonathan Fairbanks built what is today the oldest woodframe house in North America. Dedham is one of the few towns founded during the colonial era that has preserved extensive records of its earliest years. Dedham Compact Dedham was settled in the summer of 1636 by "about thirty families excised from the broad ranks of the English middle classes"2 traveling up the Charles River from Roxbury and Watertown traveling in rough canoes carved from felled trees.3 These original settlers, including Edward Alleyne, John Everard, John Gay and John Ellis "paddled up the narrow, deeply flowing stream impatiently turning curve after curve around Nonantum until, emerging from the tall forest into the open, they saw in the sunset glow a golden river twisting back and forth through broad, rich meadows."3 In search of the best land available to them they continued on but The river took many turns, so that it was a burden the continual turning about.... West, east, and north we turned on that same meadow and progressed none, so that I, rising in the boat, saw the river flowing just across a bit of grass, in a place where I knew we had passed through nigh an hour before. "Moore," said Miles then to me, "the river is like its Master, our good King Charles, of sainted memory, it promises overmuch, but gets you nowhere." They first landed where the river makes its 'great bend,' near what is today Ames Street, and close by the Dedham Community House and the Allin Congregational Church in Dedham Square. The site is known as "the Keye," and in 1927 a stone bench and memorial plaque were installed on the site. The Algonquians living in the area called the place Tiot. Tiot, which means "land surrounded by water," was later used to describe the village of South Dedham, today the separate town of Norwood. In "its first years, the town was more than a place to live; it was a spiritual community." Many of the other yeomen settling the new Dedham in the Massachusetts Bay Colony came from Suffolk, in eastern England. This group included elders Nathan Aldis, George Barber, Henry Brock, Eleazor Lusher, Samuel Morse, Robert Ware, John Thurston, Francis and Henry Chickering and Anthony, Corneileus and Joshua Fisher. Of towns founded during the colonial era, Dedham is one of the few towns "that has preserved extensive records of its earliest years."7 They have been described as "very full and perfect." The first public meeting of the plantation they called Contentment was held on August 18, 1636 and the town covenant was signed; eventually 125 men would ascribe their names to the document. As the Covenant stipulated that "for the better manifestation of our true resolution herein, every man so received into the town is to subscribe hereunto his name, thereby obliging both himself and his successors after him forever." List of Signers The Covenant of Dedham, Massachusetts was first signed on August 15, 1636. Those 125 men who signed the Covenant are listed below, in the order in which they signed. # Robert Feke # Edward Alleyn # Samuel Morse (1581-1654) # Philemon Dalton # John Dwight # Lambert Generye # Richard Euered Everett # Ralph Shepheard # John Huggin # Ralph Wheelock (1600-1684) # Thomas Cakebread # Henry Phillips # Timothie Dalton # Thomas Carter # Abraham Shawe # John Coolidge (1604-1691) # Nicholas Phillips (1611-1672) # John Gaye # John Kingsbery # John Rogers # Francis Austen # Ezekiell Holleman # Joseph Shawe # William Bearstowe # John Haward # Thomas Bartlett (c1606-1654) # Ferdinandoe Adams # Daniell Morse # Joseph Morse (1613-1652) # John Ellice / Ellis # Jonathan Fairbanks (1623-1712) # John Eaton (1611-1658) # Michaell Metcalfe # John Morse # John Allin # Anthony Fisher # Thomas Wight # Eleazer Lusher # Robert Hinsdell # John Luson # John Fisher # Thomas Fisher # Joseph Kingsberye # John Batchelor # Nathaniell Coaleburne # John Roper # Martin Philips # Henry Smyth # John Fraerye # Thomas Hastings (c1605-1685) # Francis Chickering # Thomas Alcock # William Bullard # Jonas Humphery # Edward Kempe # John Hunting # Tymothie Dwight # Henry Deengaine # Henry Brocke # James Hering # Nathan Aldus # Edward Richards # Michaell Powell # John Elderkine # Michaell Bacon # Robert Onion # Samuell Milles # Edward Colver # Thomas Bayes # George Bearstowe # John Bullard # Thomas Leader # Joseph Moyes # Jeffery Mingeye # James Allin # Richard Barber # Thomas Jordan # Joshua Fisher # Christopher Smith # John Thurston # Joseph Clarke # Thomas Eames # Peter Woodward # Thwaits Strickland # John Guild # Samuell Bulleyne # Robert Gowen # Hugh Stacey # George Barber # James Jordan # Nathaniell Whiteing # Beniamine Smith # Richard Ellice # Austen Kalem # Robert Ware # Thomas Fuller # Thomas Payne # John Fayerbanke # Henry Glover # Thomas Hering # John Plimption # George Fayerbanke # Tymoth Dwight # Andr Duein # Joseph Ellice # Ralph Freeman # Joh: Rice # Danll Ponde # John Hovghton # Jonathan Fayerbank Jr. # James Vales # Thomas Metcalfe # Robert Crossman # William Avery # John Aldus # John Mason # Isaac Bullard # Cornelus Fisher # John Partridge # James Draper # James Thorpe # Samuell Fisher # B. Benjamin Bullard # Ellice W. Woode # Thomas Fisher References * Wikipedia: List of signers of the Dedham Covenant * Wikipedia: History of Dedham, Massachusetts, 1635–1792 * A Capsule History of Dedham". Dedham Historical Society. 2006. Archived from the original on October 6, 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-10. (See Archive.org) 1636 Dedham Compact He was one of the signatories to the Dedham Compact, a key historical document for the creation of the new colonial town of Dedham, Massachusetts, located in Norfolk County, Massachusetts. The first 35 signatures were collected in August 1636 and another 90 more soon thereafter. This document provided for the common governance and defense of the community. Dedham is known for keeping excellent historical records of its early years. Category: History of Massachusetts Category: Dedham, Massachusetts Category: Signers of the Dedham Compact